Post-Wiscon YA reading #5: Nightshade City

First of all, I should give a caveat: talking animals are a hard sell for me. (Conversely, books in school settings are an easy sell. Not sure how I would feel about talking animals at school.) I loved Watership Down because those were rabbits that acted like rabbits. Charlotte's Web I found disturbing even as a child because if these were sentient animals, they shouldn't be dinner. And the whole story was about saving just one pig's life, not the rest of them. So Nightshade City, by Hilary Wagner, had to be something special for me to like it, because it's about talking rats. And earthworms, for that matter. And not rats that behave like rats -- rats that cook their dinners and dress up in clothing and have really nasty politics. And I didn't find it sufficiently special.

Additionally, this book is a major Bechdel fail. There are perhaps three conversations between female rats in the entire book, and in all of them, the discussion centers around how to get away from the evil male rat that wants to take the young and nubile female rat as a consort.

I managed to finish this book, but I didn't enjoy it. On the other hand, someone who likes beast fables might like this much better than I did.

Post-Wiscon YA reading #6: The Gargoyle Prophecies, Part One: The Savior Rises

The Gargoyle Prophecies, Part One: The Savior Rises, by Christopher C. Payne

(LJ just ate most of my half-written comment, so I'm trying to reconstruct it. Grrr.)

Okay, first of all, this book was misfiled if it was on the YA table. The other possibility is that I got it from a freebie table; honestly, I don't remember. The cover shows a young woman with wings, apparently naked, but crouching so that everything is figleafed. And there's no CIP data on the copyright page. So it's not entirely crazy that someone who hadn't checked carefully would have sorted it into the YA section. And the main character has just turned 21. But it appears, on closer look, to be solidly in the supernatural horror genre.

Second, it's not an ARC. It appears to be a standard copy of a print-on-demand book. It's published by Journalstone, which has a terrible website (with autoplaying ads that have nothing to do with books) and 15 or so books for sale. Apparently you're never supposed to have heard of any of the authors, because the authors' names aren't listed in the store, just the title, a book description, and price.

Tucked into the book was a cover letter addressed to someone that the author hoped would review the book. The cover letter, in an amazing level of chutzpah, admits that the title isn't wonderful, but it says what he wanted to say, and besides it's too late now because the book is in print (followed by a smiley). And follows that with instructions that the reader should keep reading because everyone who's managed to get to the end has been blown away. Free advice to authors: if you know the beginning of your book is weak, the solution is to fix it, not to persuade readers to keep going, even if they aren't enjoying it.

After the copyright page was a dedication page. Actually, it's a page-and-a-half, and appears to combine dedication and acknowledgments. But it starts out by saying that the book is dedicated to his three daughters. Standard enough. The next paragraph says that he never lets any of his daughters read the books because the content is just not appropriate. How old are his daughters? And if it's not appropriate for them, who is it appropriate for?

I also noticed at this point that the text was ragged right rather than justified. I prefer ragged right for ebooks, but I can't remember ever seeing a professionally published book that didn't have proper justification.

Finally, I started reading the book. Or tried, at least. Standard disclosure: I'm not a horror reader. It's just not my thing, and the better the author does it, the less I like it. But this wasn't a plotting or characterization problem so much as a clunky, over-the-top prose problem. Some examples:

"I may not be authorized to kill you, but you'll remember this day for the rest of your short life, jerk," Jason fumed through his mangled lips.

It was like a Hollywood zombie movie gone awry where eeryone dies before the audience figures out the plot.

"I don't know what I am. I honestly don't know what I am anymore," she garbled through another burst of tears.

Apparently what she is is a gargoyle -- almost industructible, able to fly, and involved in lots of killing.

Not a YA, and not recommended.